Question 1

Why is it le tue mani and not "i tuoi mani" since mani ends in -i?

Accepted Answer

The word for hand (la mano) is a very common exception. It ends in -o but is feminine. In the plural, the -o changes to -i (le mani) but it stays feminine. That is why it takes the feminine plural article le and the feminine plural possessive tue.

Question 2

Why does the adjective sporche have an "h" in it?

Accepted Answer

The adjective for dirty is sporco (masculine) or sporca (feminine). Because mani is feminine plural, we need the plural ending -e. To keep the hard "c" sound from sporca, we add an "h" to make it sporche. Without the "h", it would be pronounced with a soft sound, like the "ch" in the English word "cheese".

Question 3

In the phrase le devi lavare, what does the first le mean?

Accepted Answer

Here, le is a direct object pronoun meaning "them". It is feminine plural because it refers back to le mani (the hands). In Italian, these pronouns generally go right before the conjugated verb, which is why it comes before devi.

Question 4

Can I attach le to the end of the verb instead of putting it before devi?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Because devi is a helper verb followed by a verb in the infinitive dictionary form (lavare), you have a choice. You can put le before the conjugated verb (le devi lavare) or attach it to the end of the infinitive by dropping its final -e (devi lavarle). Both are completely correct.

Le tue mani sono sporche, le devi lavare.

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